Mood: hungryyy
Listening to: 'Promise' from the OST of...you know the drill...
Hungry for: korean bbq!
Bella says: 'zzz..zzzz'
Okay, so I've been going on a book-buying spree lately: I bought Romulus, My Father and Beastly....okay, so that's not a big book spree, but anyways. Oh, yeah, and I've ordered an e-reader from Borders so I don't have to fork out a squillion bucks every time I get sick of Twilight.
I've watched the motion picture adaption of Romulus, My Father, starring Eric Bana and Franka Potente, so I've wanted to read this book for quite a while.
It's very different to most biographies that I've read, but what remains the same is the seemingly matter-of-fact way that horrors and tragedies are dictated to the reader. Raimond Gaita is a very talented writer in a sense that he can convey his understanding of the thoughts, morals and ideas of the people around him in his childhood as well as his own views as both a child and as an adult.
But the most important thing is that Gaita's book fills in a very important gap in Australian history, a period that we have all-but-forgotten about - the mid-20th century, when immigrants were both welcomed and shunned into the land of plenty that was also the land of nothingness. What I love best about Gaita's book is that it is relevant to all immigrants, no matter who they are, and when and where they come from.
The stupid thing is, this has taken me about ten days to write. I'm going through a bit of a lull at the moment. Sorry :(.
1 comment:
Hooray for the e-reader, Renegade!
Would love to talk lots more about Romulus, my father.
Yes, it is relevant to immigrants wherever you are and wherever you or your family have come from.
I agree with your point:
"Raimond Gaita is a very talented writer in a sense that he can convey his understanding of the thoughts, morals and ideas of the people around him in his childhood as well as his own views as both a child and as an adult."
One of the examples is probably the shooting of chickens, and another example was when Gaita went to school in Ballarat after his Dad's mental illness.
The big one which gets to me is probably when Gaita goes to live with his mother. I was especially moved by the dilemnas around his sister Susan.
You also say:
"But the most important thing is that Gaita's book fills in a very important gap in Australian history, a period that we have all-but-forgotten about - the mid-20th century, when immigrants were both welcomed and shunned into the land of plenty that was also the land of nothingness."
Yes, Christina and Romulus experience and cope with this, in their own way. And so do Mitru and Hola. The implications play on one another.
Another thing I would like to point out about this book is that it shows the formation and development of one of Australia's leading philosophers. So it is not simply a biography and definitely not a "misery memoir".
I once tried (October 2008) to make a "Romulus wiki" for the students.
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